Elmer and Pittsgrove school districts to merge through send and receive agreement

ELMER -- The Elmer Board of Education voted unanimously during its school board meeting here Tuesday night to merge with Pittsgrove through a full send and receive agreement.

The agreement could have Elmer and Pittsgrove students attending school together. It also means Elmer School might still be used but it's unknown at this time how the school will be used. For example, it could (completely hypothetically) be an elementary school for students from both areas.

School board member Jose Cardona spoke for the board during the meeting. Cardona said district officials have been discussing the subject for years and that Tuesday night's vote was critical in actually making it happen.

"We're coming to a point now where there is an opportunity for it to happen in a way that we can control over certain factors," said Cardona.

At this point, the school will begin the planning stage as they research how the process should be done. Consultants will be hired to help the school board.

The next step, however, will be for Pittsgrove to agree to move forward with the agreement. Pittsgrove Superintendent Henry Bermann could not comment on the topic as the school board has yet to officially meet on the subject but it will be on the agenda at tonight's meeting.

"This sounds like a pro-active approach on the part of the Elmer BOE and I look forward to helping them," said Executive County Superintendent Robert Bumpus.

For the handful of teachers that attended the meeting, they were concerned with how soon the merger could happen.

Cardona could not give a clear answer of how soon it could happen and simply stated they have no timeline. While he insisted it won't happen like a switch of a light, he is unsure of an exact date.

"We just have to move forward with the planning phases involved. Whether this starts in the fall, spring, or next year has yet to be determined," said Cardona.